some new photos

I finally uploaded some new pictures! Here's one Tim took of Ainsleigh a few weeks back. He took several of her, actually, in this same self-styled getup. I wish I could show the progression of photos because they're so funny. They sort of start out with serious gangster face and progress to laughing Ainsleigh face.


These next photos are of Ainsleigh doing her bead work. She has gotten so good at it! She first got them at Christmas and was sort of frustrated by the coordination it took to get the beads on and keep them from falling off. Now she's a pro. If only I could sell them....hmm, make some money....but that would require more expensive beads. Probably.



And guess what! I did take some pictures last weekend after all! I just forgot. I got this one of Ainsleigh and Grandma Debbie reading books (like always!). Ainsleigh had a great time.
Don't you sort of see the resemblance? You might if Ainsleigh wasn't leaned back being silly.


These I took today at our local museum. We met friends there and I think we could have stayed forever if it was up to Ainsleigh.
Here she's putting on a fabulous tap dance performance although it was cancelled later because, as she said, "the dancers didn't show up."


I had to post this picture because when we were at the museum I thought these girls looked so much older than Ainsleigh. But now that I look back at it, she sort of fits right in, doesn't she? She's really growing up and losing all things baby or toddler about her. Sometimes she still says, "I love you sis much!" We still have the th's to cover, but that's just about it.

a nice, long weekend

I can't believe the weekend is already over. We went to Knoxville Saturday evening for my nephew, Austin's 13th birthday party. They had a campfire and Ainsleigh had so much fun roasting hot dogs and catching marshmallows on fire. She loves and looks up to her cousins so much. I can't believe my little nephew is a teenager. I'm so old! I remember when he was a baby, we thought he was the smartest, coolest baby ever. I was only 18 and my sisters were just becoming teenagers themselves. We babysat a lot, Aunt Carly liked to teach him fun phrases that his Mom didn't really appreciate, but overall we just sat around admiring him. Time has gone by really fast. I can't believe that here I am, preparing for my own child number three. That sounds crazy. All of those years wondering if I even wanted kids, knowing I was never very good with them (I really wasn't. Ask my good friend Tara, or anyone I babysat for, I was so uninterested and bored and just plain awkward.), thinking I probably wouldn't be a good mom, and now I think its the coolest thing ever to have my family; this guy I love, and now an extension of us to enjoy, teach, and be so proud of. 

So back to this weekend. Tim's Mom, Deb, visited Saturday and Sunday. We all went to see the new Indiana Jones movie. It was probably a bit much for Ainsleigh but she really paid attention and explained the plot to us later the next day. Sunday we cooked out at Tim's Grandma Lois's house. It was a really nice Memorial day. Ainsleigh loved being outside all day. She has really warmed up to Grandma Lois. Watching them sit outside on the glider together, talking about flowers and being a ballerina was so cool. If only I'd remembered my video camera. I'd love to have captured that moment. She cried when we had to say goodbye. I'm really glad she knows her great grandma so well. I hope she remembers these visits when she's older. I never knew my great-grandparents and I regret not spending more time with my own grandparents in recent years. It's hard living so far away and not comprehending how limited our time probably is. My grandparents don't talk a lot about the past and there's so much I'd be interested to know. I'm afraid it might all get lost. They think it is just life, but to me it is so interesting and hard to imagine.

So overall, another good weekend lost to forgetting the camera. I hope you all had a good one and got to spend some time in the sunshine.

the sun is here, and so is the sunburn

Yesterday we met friends at the park. The kids were mesmerized by this fountain and sat there, getting a little bit sunburned, for the longest time. When we got home I noticed Ainsleigh's pink cheeks, nose and shoulders and I sort of sighed and said, "oh Ainsleigh, you've got your first sunburn." She quickly responded with, "I'm sorry Mommy, I won't do it again." I wondered if I am that mean that she felt like she had to apologize so quickly. Hers isn't too bad, but I was so happy that she's never really been sunburned before, now she has, but hers isn't nearly as bad as mine. Hopefully she's got Tim's skin and won't burn like I do.

Another little guy joined them. He saw them sitting there and just climbed right up. They were very polite and introduced themselves. It's like being killed with cuteness to watch this. 

So I've noticed that little girls can really tend to boss little boys around. Boys are much more boss-aroundable than other little girls. I thought it was just Ainsleigh but I'm starting to notice a trend. It just seems like little boys are a little more easy going and "whatever" minded than girls. I'm sure the rule doesn't hold true for all kids. Tim keeps insisting that this baby is going to be a boy and I'm not sure I'll know what to do with a boy. I mean, first of all, I don't have boy clothes, but I have LOTS of girl clothes. He was right the last two times. I was wrong. But can he be right three times in a row? Ainsleigh thinks its a girl and refers to it as "she" and "her." I really don't think it matters. Tim and I don't care at all, he just "has a feeling." Ainsleigh might be a little disappointed if it turns out to be a boy. On the other hand, she'll probably be able to boss him around, she might like that. 

Ainsleigh's definitely changed in the last 6 months or so. She's so much more outgoing, brave, very social, unafraid to introduce herself to anyone, and her vocabulary is impressive. Last night before bed she told us she was spiderman but she had to go to sleep so she could save people in the morning. She ran in to tell Daddy, at my prompting, and he laughed so she angrily told me, "See, I told you he would laugh at me." She got over it fast though and ran around the bed, explaining to Daddy that superheroes have to "dynamically" help people. Dynamically?

Twice now she has told people her name and followed it up by asking them if they thought it was beautiful.  I told her that wasn't very polite and she told me, "I just wanted to know if they liked it or not." 

So have we given her a big ego? I think she's pretty polite though, and she's been complimenting people too. She told a salesgirl at the mall that she had beautiful, sparkly eyes, and someone else that they had pretty hair. That balances it out, right?!

So she just asks me, "Mommy, do I still look be-you-tee-ful when I sleep, cuz I have those bee-you-tee-ful eyelashes?"

Oh, the life. Being a mommy to a girly-girl. Who knew?

to the zoo

Ainsleigh and I met a friend and her two little boys at the zoo Tuesday. We had such a good time. Ainsleigh immediately hit it off with her 5 year old and they set off ahead of us holding hands and telling each other how they weren't afraid of elephants. It was so sweet to hear them talking to each other so politely. He was Ainsleigh's best friend right away, or so she said. It helps that he has the same name as her cousin! He was so sweet and kind to her. He would pat her shoulder when they walked. They totally acted like siblings. We spent almost four hours there. FOUR HOURS! I think that's the longest trip I've ever taken to the zoo. But the weather was really nice for it and everything was green, not too stinky yet, and not hot enough for all the gnats to be gathering around the animals and their food.


I couldn't believe how brave Ainsleigh was. She fed the koi fish and ducks in the pond and then headed right over to the goats and wasn't afraid to feed them either, although I was a little nervous about it. She started with the little baby goats and then moved up to the larger ones. Good thing she didn't go by my example, because there was no way I was letting them stick their slimy tongues all over my hand. Sorry, but I'm going to plead nausea on that one.


I know they look less than thrilled here, but Ainsleigh was sort of sitting on his lap taking over the steering. The rest of the day they were really happy though. There were conversations about a kitty cat named Milo and some "gubbies" in a fish tank that are named sheddy, betty, and eddie. They both yelled "see ya later" to all the animals when we rode the train through the park at the end of the day. We actually saw quite a few animals - black bears, lions, bobcats, giraffes, parrots, wallabies, emus, bison, elk, bengal tigers, porcupines, and bald eagles but of course feeding the ducks and koi fish was Ainsleigh's favorite and most memorable part. So much for the exotic. I guess its to be expected from a girl who eats rice and pasta with nothing on it.

So here's her wingspan today. She's almost four. I'm kind of enjoying my 3 foot tall girl.

conversations with Ainsleigh

Well, I haven't taken any pictures in awhile so I'll have to wait for those. I think I'm starting to feel a little better. The last two nights I've had horrible migraines and tylenol doesn't seem to help. I don't usually get migraines so its a little strange and pretty miserable. Last night Ainsleigh went to her room, laid down in her bed and went to sleep all on her own around 7:30 and that helped except that then she woke up at 6 this morning. It was strange. I went in to check on her, thinking she was playing, and she was all wadded up in her blankets asleep and drooling.

She's been using these big words lately. The other day she was watching curious george and he lost his lucky hat and she goes, "mommy, he'll just have to get another hat with those good luck guarantees." Then this morning she woke up an told me that she loved me even though sometimes I'm mean to her. I told her that I love her too, even though sometimes she's mean to me. That's weird, isn't it? I'm not really mean, sometimes I just can't be nice, you know what I mean? She's been learning about her body because of this berenstain bears book about too much junk food. I've been having to spend hours talking about the nervous system, and how that's why she knows she has a boo boo, and the circulatory system (she keeps telling me how she has a good heart that sends blood through her body so she won't die, do you think that's an Addie reference?) and the skeletal system and the digestive system. I don't think she gets the digestive system quite yet, but she thinks its funny when I explain how the things we don't need from our food go through our body, get processed and come out our bottom. This parenting thing makes you talk about the strangest things like they are just ordinary, everyday. Now I have to explain what vitamins/proteins, etc. all our food has in it as we eat it, and what it does for her body. It's easy when all we have for lunch is grilled cheese, carrots, and bananas with peanut butter, but the brownies weren't quite so easy, until she realized they were junk food. That darn junk food book always has me doing this for days whenever we read it. She's getting to be a huge berenstain bear fan so we'll have to find a few more of those books.

Tim's mom called us to tell us some of the funny things Ainsleigh said while she stayed with her last weekend. I guess she started humming a song from that Juno movie to Tim's sister Kristi. Kristi recognized it and asked her where she heard it and she answered, "from some movie about a pregnant girl." So she's been using the word pregnant now. Mommy doesn't "have a baby in her tummy" anymore, now I'm just "pregnant." And she pronounces it like its spelled. She says I'm preg-a-nant. Whenever I complain about being sick, she tells me I'll feel better when I get that baby out of my tummy.

I love this girl!

a tribute to some worthy mothers

Here's my mom helping take care of my daughters. Ainsleigh's in her underwear, like always. It was potty-training time. Oh, Mom. What would I have done without you? How you had five kids and still managed to volunteer at church, be crafty and creative, teach us all you did, homeschool and keep your sanity, I'll never know.

This is my mother-in-law Deb and her mother, Tim's grandma Lois on her 80th birthday. These, like all the women in my life, are some strong ladies. I am so glad that I have gotten to know Lois better over the last few years. She is a really smart lady and I am always impressed by her love for her family and her ability to be very straight-forward and no-nonsense. She was a maternity nurse and worked third shift while raising 4 kids and being a wife to a fire chief. She's got some wonderful stories to tell and so much to show for her life. My mother-in-law is also amazing. I have watched her accomplish so much in the middle of a really difficult time in her life. She became a college graduate in her fifties. She took care of Ainsleigh quite a bit right after she was born and I had to return to work. I would have loved to stay home then, but I think the relationship she and Ainsleigh had was really cool and I'm glad they spent that time together. 

This is a photo of my mom's mother, my grandma Ann, and my grandpa Lewis (she's always calls him "Nick."). She left her family in Sioux City, Iowa to marry my grandpa and move to the middle of nowhere to raise a huge family and be the wife of a farmer. What a life for such a young woman! When we were kids, we ran across some of her art and were so amazed! I think the tendency of my mother and sisters and I to want to be creative comes from her. We lived right down the street from her growing up and during the summer, we'd ride bikes up to her house for lemonade, cookies, and a game of scrabble. She's lost some children herself and I don't know how she dealt with her own pain while taking care of her large family. Our grandparents were such hard workers and while I know our life today has its own stresses, I am so amazed by their strength and all that their days held when they were young parents.


This is my Dad's mother, my grandma Arlene. She passed away the January after Ainsleigh was born and I miss her presence in my life so much! She was a truly thoughtful and loving person. She was a women with a thousand friends and she went out dancing and spending time with her friends and family into her 80's. We could always count on her for the best trick-or-treat bags on Halloween and for her whole house to be decorated for Christmas. Family meant everything to her and our pictures were everywhere on her walls. I don't know much about her life as a young woman. I do know she had retired from a factory before I was born. One of the last times I saw her, I had brought Ainsleigh up to see her in the hospital. She just loved spending time with her grandkids and she was so happy to see Ainsleigh. She just kept telling us how beautiful she was, and that she looked like a porcelain doll. It's kind of neat to imagine the grandparents and family who have passed away spending time with Addie in heaven.

Tim and I went out to lunch today and spent some time talking about our mothers and how lucky we are to have grown up with the genuine love and support of these amazing women. We've watched them continually give of themselves and always, always want what was best for us. I feel so lucky to have them both in my life and in Ainsleigh's. I can put it all in perspective a little more, now that I'm a mother myself. How did they do it? And with so many kids? I'm having trouble keeping up with my three year old! There isn't much time to be selfish. 

Thanks Mom and Deb for your love and support, especially during some really tough times when we needed every ounce you had to give...and then some. Thanks too, for teaching us about what is truly valuable in life. I hope you know how much you are appreciated. 

Oh Addie

I ran across this video of Addie yesterday. I forgot I had it! I love the way it shows how she would raise her eyebrows and the funny little noises she would make until she actually got a little bit of a louder voice.

I don't think I shared it much because of Ainsleigh's naked bottom being in it, but just ignore that. I really did put underwear on her. Most of the time. We were potty training. It's from 2-16-07.